(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order consolidates with amendments the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) Order 1989, as amended.
The Order contains emergency prohibitions on various activities in order to prevent human consumption of food which is derived from sheep in designated areas in Scotland and which has been or may have been rendered unsuitable for human consumption in consequence of the elevated levels of radioactivity found in those areas following the escape of radioactive substances from a nuclear reactor situated at Chernobyl in the USSR.
The designated areas in Scotland are described (article 3 and Schedule 1). Within those areas the slaughter of sheep is prohibited (article 4). Movement of sheep from farms, holdings and agricultural premises in the designated areas is prohibited (article 5(1)), and movement of sheep into those areas is controlled (article 5(2)). Prohibitions on the slaughter of sheep from the designated areas and the supply of meat derived from such sheep extend throughout the United Kingdom, subject to exceptions (article 6).
The principal changes of substance effected by this Order are—
(a)a reduction in the size of the designated areas in Scotland (article 3 and Schedule 1);
(b)the removal of the exception to the prohibition on slaughter of sheep within the designated areas (article 4);
(c)a revision of the exceptions to the prohibitions throughout the United Kingdom on the slaughter of sheeep from the designated areas and the supply of meat derived from such sheep (article 6(2)); in particular—
(i)the prohibitions do not apply in the case of any sheep moved from those areas in accordance with a consent given under section 2(1) of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (“the 1985 Act”), regardless of the date of the consent, if the consent was subject to the condition that the sheep should be marked with a paint mark, and the sheep has been examined and marked with an ear-tag by a person authorised by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland or Wales or the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (article 6(2)(b));
(ii)a fixed timetable for exceptions to these prohibitions is introduced in the case of any sheep moved from those areas in accordance with a consent given under section 2(1) of the 1985 Act and marked with a blue, apricot or green paint mark in accordance with that consent (article 6(2)(c) to (e)).
The Order also makes certain drafting changes.
Under section 21 of the 1985 Act the penalty for contravening an emergency prohibition is—
(a)on summary convicition, a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum (at present £2,000);
(b)on conviction on indictment, an unlimited fine, or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or both.
Powers of enforcement in relation to emergency prohibitions are conferred by section 4 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1985 Act. Obstruction of enforcement officers is an offence under paragraph 10 of that Schedule.